Wedding Photography UK, Lake District wedding photography, Steven Taylor Photography

New site, new blog...

2012-01-01T04:03:00.000-08:00

If you have just found your way here through a search, or if you have us bookmarked, you may notice there's not a lot going on right now. Well that's because we have moved.

Go to our new site here, the blog and site are all integrated now so you won't have to keep shifting around.

Best wishes
Steven and Josh

An interview with Steven.

2011-10-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

There's a great new blog aimed at Brides, Grooms and photographers. It's called Photography 1827. The owner, Kathryn Andrews, talks about and shows really good wedding photography, particularly fine art and documentary styles. There are also articles on fashion and style for weddings, it looks good as well.

So last night I answered Kathryn's questions and sent her some of my favourite images from over the last few years.

Click here to go have a look.

Helen and Simon, 1st October

2011-10-14T09:13:00.002-07:00

We are slowing down now, the wedding season is coming to an end for this year, few more to come but we are on with other projects as you will have seen.

Our first of three weddings this month was Helen and Simon’s.

Morland Hall is near Penrith so not a long haul for us. We’ve never been there before so we were pleasantly surprised by what we found. A well-appointed country house in it’s own grounds with a splendid coach house that was perfect for the reception. All very relaxing and laid back. The location, the venue, the weather, pretty good I reckon

Helen and Simon are lovely as are their families so that makes our job easier.

Here are the highlights.

Documentary wedding photography workshop

2011-10-09T11:39:00.001-07:00

So here it is, the link to the details and the form to register. This should appeal to just about any wedding photographer because Megan will enlighten us on how to market a wedding photography business and Josh will show us how to make the best of our RAW files and album designs. I'll have quite a bit to say about our style of wedding photojournalism. So have a look here and register your interest.

Documentary Wedding Photography Seminar

2011-10-08T11:30:00.001-07:00

Over the past week or so we’ve been shouting on Twitter and Facebook about the seminar/workshop, whatever you want to call it we are planning for 26th and 27th November.

It’s really exciting for us because we will be inviting just a handful of our fellow wedding photographers to our studio in Bowness. They will be able to have a good look around, see our sample albums and the way we work on a day-to-day basis. It’s not just a chance for them to have a nosey, although they are very welcome. We are going to give them an insight into what makes us tick as documentary wedding photographers.

I’ve talked about this on here before but it is worth another mention. My choice to approach wedding photography the way I do was no more contrived than the pictures we make. As a young wedding photographer in the seventies and to almost the end of the eighties, I was always uncomfortable asking intelligent people to adopt contrived poses for the sake of making, what I considered to be an inaccurate record of the wedding day. That was the way all wedding photographers worked then. I don’t know if I understood why it felt uncomfortable but I know that the couples didn’t take to that sort of direction particularly well either, maybe it was because I was so young or maybe I just was not the right type of personality.

I had always been interested in the idea of photography as a means of telling stories. When I first got into photography, as a very young, smooth faced art student, I collected a series of books on photography from Time Life publishers. Those books drew a lot on the archive of Life magazine and photo-stories by the photojournalists that graced its pages. Photographers like W Eugene Smith, Margret Bourke-White and Alfred Eisenstaedt. It wasn’t long before I discovered Henri Cartier-Bresson and his, for me, life-changing essay, “The Decisive Moment” written in 1952 but just as valid now. I still love reading that essay, and I go back to it often. All of it struck a chord for me, but his idea that the photographer can be an observer, a collector of images and a re-teller of stories, but did not influence or manipulate beyond the selection process seemed to be in contrast to the way I had been trained to photograph weddings.

“…Our task is to perceive reality, almost simultaneously recording it in the sketchbook which is our camera. We must neither try to manipulate reality while we are shooting, nor manipulate the results in a darkroom. These tricks are patently discernible to those who have eyes to see…”
Henri Cartier-Bresson from “The Decisive Moment” 1952.

In 1988 a friend and fellow photographer, asked me to photograph his sister’s wedding. He knew what I thought of wedding photography at the time and sympathised with my interest in impartial story telling. So, with his sister’s blessing he suggested I work the way I had always wanted to. That was the start and by the mid nineties that approach had become fashionable and what I was doing was in demand.

There are some very important theories that go toward setting the philosophy and methodology of getting really successful, emotive, powerful story-telling pictures. There are techniques, methods and a set of personal ground rules that establish not just the look of the images we produce but our whole approach to wedding photography. So, in a nutshell, that is what we are going to be talking about on the 26th and 27th November.

As well as all that from me, the delegates will hear from Megan Henshall.

Megan is an expert in branding and marketing wedding and portrait photography businesses. She has worked with, and contributed to, the success of some of the biggest names in our industry. When it comes to numbers she knows her stuff. She is also very in tune with our typical customers (as if there was such a thing), she understands what it is our clients want from us. Because she is not a photographer, but works everyday with images, she sees our work and the work of the other photographers she works with, from a similar perspective to our clients. That means she is able to help our clients use our images in albums, frames or any other presentation that relate to the customer’s needs and desires. She will talk on those subjects and subjects that will help photographers set their price, brand and product range to fit the market they want to serve.

It’s all very well making stunning images and creating wonderful products but we photographers still have to convert that jumble of zeros and ones into recognisable images. In our business, as well as making some of the team's stunning images, that’s Josh’s domain.

He will give a presentation on our workflow, colour management (that includes how we get those punchy, film like black and whites), editing and processing. He will also talk about and demonstrate the JAD software we use to design our gorgeous Jorgensen albums.

If you are or aspire to be a documentary wedding photographer go to the link and register now.

New Sample Album

2011-09-30T05:29:00.000-07:00

I know we usually do this the other way round, but sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and get all adventurous... So, if you go and have a look at our Facebook page, you can get a glimpse of our newest sample album, while you are there why not join it? If, however, you would prefer to see it in the flesh and that is by far the best way to see it, give us a call 01539 454 83 and we'll get the coffee on.

Melissa and Jay, 17th September

2011-09-28T09:07:00.001-07:00

This is the Lake District, we’ve said before, the clue is in the name, so for the third week running we all got wet.

If it had been any other day than Jay and Melissa’s wedding we wouldn’t have liked the rain, but on days like these nobody really minds. Hawkshead Church is Melissa’s parent’s local and Melissa’s Dad is a bell ringer there so we’ve probably met him before. We especially like Hawkshead Church because of the music. Anyone who has ever been to a service there will tell you that the organ music as played by Paul Gregson is a treat.

The tradition at some Cumbrian Churches for the children of the village to tie the gates together is always enthusiastically carried out by the boys and girls of the choir. Tradition dictates that the couple have to throw coins over the gate for the children to collect before the gates are untied. Even the rain didn’t prevent this little ritual and when everybody was finally released the couple and their guests were transported by Cumbria Classic Coaches down the road to Belmount Hall in Outgate.

Here are the highlights.

A Velvet Hand, a Hawk's Eye...

2011-09-23T02:02:00.000-07:00

We have just joined a group of wedding photographers called "Wedding Photographer's Network". They have a directory, we are in it, and they also have a blog. It's a great site with some really interesting stuff for both photographers and Brides.

Last night Steven wrote an article for their blog. It's about how he approaches his style of wedding photography. It's called A Velvet Hand, a Hawk's Eye. That's a quote from Henri Cartier-Bresson's "The Decisive Moment", Steven's favourite piece of writing of all time.

You can read the article here.

New Profile Pictures...

2011-09-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

As part of the promotion effort for our latest project (little hint at it two posts down) we made some new profile pictures. We've used them on our new site as well and we thought it would be nice to share them here.

New wall art...

2011-09-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

We go to a few places to have prints made. One of them is the Printspace in London. They say nice things about us.

We have been meaning to get around to having some new prints made for the walls here at the studio, so yesterday, we had a delivery from the Printspace. They are all from recent weddings, several from Italy. We will make some more in the next few weeks but these will do for now. Here are a few of them.

Something for photographers...

2011-09-22T04:59:00.000-07:00

Steven has been photographing weddings for 35 years and for the last 20, in a documentary style...

We can't say too much yet because we are still working on it and there is somebody else involved, we'll tell you who very soon, but let's just say if you are a wedding photographer, you like the way we work and you could use a little help, keep 26th and 27th November free.

We will tell you everything in the next week so keep watching.

Pictures for friends

2011-09-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

We work with a lot of wedding suppliers, some on several occasions. Over the last few years we’ve worked with Aqua Hair and Beauty a lot. Gareth asked me ages ago if I could find some of images from more recent weddings that they have worked on.

This has been a very busy year, we’ve photographed more weddings this year than we have in any of the last ten years, and so it took a while. Anyway, I finally sorted some out and I will drop them in to the salon during the week.

In the meantime I thought you would like a little slideshow. Click here.

New site, nearly there...

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

We have been working a bit more on our new site and I think we are nearly there. We've added galleries and changed the copy. There are even new profile pictures...handsome devils, they are... It would be great if you would go and have a look and maybe leave some feedback.

Here it is...

Kylie and Scott, 10th September

2011-09-14T07:01:00.001-07:00

We went over the border on Saturday for Kylie and Scott’s wedding.

Driving around the “bonny banks of Loch Lomond” inspired a song so we were pleased when Kylie’s Dad gave us an improved version mid speech.

It rained but we were at The Lodge on Loch Goil. So it didn’t really matter. Wow, what a venue. It gets used for fashion shoots and TV programes and the food is pretty special. We love the Tree-house.

It is always good to meet people that we haven’t worked with before and Neil Hartop is a videographer who has a very similar philosophy about recording weddings as we do.

Have a look at the slideshow here.

Rachel and Dave, 3rd September

2011-09-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

An Anglo-Dutch alliance was formed last Saturday on the shores of Ullswater.

Rachel is English but Dave is from the Netherlands. I don’t know what Dave’s family made of our weather.

We live and, mostly work, in the English Lake District, the weather here…well, the clue is in the name. You can plan for the most fantastic wedding and Rachel and Dave did, but you can’t do anything about the weather. It didn’t matter in this case though because everybody involved, Rachel and Dave, their families, the wedding party, the guests, Andrew Sothcott and his team (caterer), the Vicar, the musicians and all those I forgot to mention are such lovely people and a pleasure to work with that we hardly noticed all the water falling on us.

One of the problems of rain, when you’ve planned a drinks reception on the lawn, is where do you put the Steel Band? Rachel’s parent’s solution was to strip the lounge of furniture and let them entertain the 100 guests that were enjoying their Champagne in the kitchen from in there.

An interesting and slightly unusual Marquee kept everybody dry during diner. Shades of India only began this year. I reckon we’ll meet them again.

There was a special surprise that Tim (Rachel’s Dad) let me in on when I arrived. The transport was a bit out of the ordinary and Josh got a ride back from the Church in it. You’ll see it on the slideshow; nobody except Rachel and Tim knew it was coming.

EDIT: The slideshow is currently not loading when in full size, for now just press play and keep it in the original size. We are working on getting it fullscreen. Hopefully it will be sorted tomorrow.

Watch the slideshow here (Unless you have uber fast broadband please give the slideshow at least a couple of minutes to load before pressing play, we suggest you open it in a new window or tab..

They're here...

2011-09-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Andy and Michelle here is a special blog post just for you.

Waiting at our studio are 3 bragbooks, a folio box of prints and a gorgeous Medium Styla album with your wedding story. As well as all that there will be a jug of very strong , hot fresh coffee and a plate of those triple chocolate biscuits you love so much.

Just to prove the point we made this picture in the style of a 1960's pack shot.

Give us a ring 015394 454 83 and we'll make a date.

Helen and Alex 27th August

2011-09-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

We love going to the Merewood so we are always thrilled when we get a wedding there. Last Saturday we were back there again for the wedding of Helen and Alex. We also had the pleasure of meeting Howard Wing at the wedding, Howard is a wedding singer with some extras thrown in, not only did he entertain the guests throughout the day but he also acted as a “Jazz” MC. Howard has a real talent for working the room and literally had guests up on their seats. Everyone had a fantastic day and we captured some lovely images, which you can see below…

Click here for a slideshow of the day.

Abbey and Alicia, 14th August

2011-08-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

It was ages ago that we first met Abbey and Alicia, early part of 2010 I think, we took them to play Crazy Golf for their pre wedding pictures. We always liked them so we were looking forward to seeing them again for their Civil Partnership celebration last Sunday.

The whole day was at The Inn on the Lake in Glenridding. It’s always nice to go there, and the setting and view is stunning. This was the first time we had photographed a ceremony outside there so we are glad the weather was kind.

Here are the highlights.

Lisa and Ben, 13th August

2011-08-23T08:24:00.002-07:00

Local”ish” for us but not for Lisa. We went to Barrow last Saturday. Ben and Lisa met in London, where Ben is a lawyer, but Lisa is from Nebraska. So once again it was a meeting of cultures. Ben was brought up in Barrow. We are really getting into this hands across the ocean stuff. Two fantastic families joined despite the vast distance.

There was another wedding at the Abbey House Hotel when we arrived to photograph Lisa preparing. When she stepped outside to leave for the Church she thought the coach and pair was there for the other wedding but it was a surprise from Ben.

What a great day they had.

Here are the highlights

Lisa and Garry, 7th August

2011-08-17T05:44:00.001-07:00

Catching up now.

We finished at Sian and Phil’s wedding at about 9ish and set off to travel back up north. The M25 was open again by the time we got to it. From experience we knew that a drive all the way home after a wedding would be too much so we booked into the Travel lodge at Knutsford services. We spend so much time on the road these days that I am thinking of decorating a room at home in the style of a Travel Lodge so that I feel more at home when I’m at home.

I digress. On Sunday morning we set off on the final leg to Armathwaite Hall Hotel on the shore of Bessenthwaite Lake. There, we met with Garry and Lisa for the first time. We had talked to them on the phone and by E mail but the day of their wedding was the first time we met them face to face.

The ceremony and the reception were all in the new wing of the Hotel. Everybody at the wedding and from the Hotel was lovely and I don’t think they noticed that we were a little tired.

Here are the highlights.

Sian and Phil, 6th August

2011-08-16T08:16:00.001-07:00

We are getting a little behind here. We have documented4 weddings since the last post .

So, after Mart and Suz on Thursday and a couple of meetings in the studio on Friday morning we set off down the motorway for Sian and Phil. We were headed for Croydon again. Remember we were there for Kirsty and Jim a few weeks before? Well when we got to Sian’s flat on Saturday morning we were introduced to the make up artist who we recognised instantly from Kirsty and Jim’s wedding. Sian had 5 Bridesmaids. Four of them had the usual 2 legs while one, Shebah, had four (you’ll have to look at the slideshow now, won’t you?)

The wedding was at St. Leonard’s Church in Chelsham, a little way out of Croydon and the reception was at Horsley Park which is near Leatherhead. The M25 was out of action because of a big accident that happened on Friday. So there was some logistical reorganising to be done. Phil and Sian’s Best man and ushers worked out a diversion and hurriedly handed them out as the guests left the Church. Anyway we all got there with time to spare and everything went like clockwork.

Here are the highlights.

Suz and Mart, 4th August

2011-08-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

It’s taken us a little longer than we planned but we had a couple of interruptions.

Last Thursday it was the turn of Mart and Suz. We first met them more than a year ago when they came to book us for their wedding day, how time flies. Josh met Mart at the Old England and was recognised by Mart’s Best man, Mike from when Josh worked in Rosie’s bar in Newcastle when he was a student, that’s the second time this year. Steve went straight to Linthwaite House Hotel where Suz was getting ready. It rained and then it rained a bit more, ever the optimist Steven pointed out that the rain will only last until the ceremony was over. He was nearly right, the sun actually appeared while Mart and Suz were exchanging rings. We managed to get all the formals done on the grass and got a short walk up to the Tarn for a couple of portraits as well.

Mart runs a garden centre in Newcastle and brought some beautiful plants to decorate the patio at the Hotel. There was also a surprise for Suz when he planted a tree with a commemorative plaque in the grounds.

When we got back down from the Tarn the couple were greeted with the news that Mart’s sister had just given birth to twins. So they won’t forget Mart and Suz’s wedding anniversary will they?

Here are the highlights.

Up and down the M6

2011-08-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

We are recovering today. On Thursday of last week we went up the road to Linthwaite House Hotel for Mart and Suz's wedding. Then after a couple of meetings on Friday morning we set off to London and then Surrey to photograph Sian and Phil's wedding on Saturday. We finished working at their wedding at around 9pm and set off back up the road to Knutsford where we spent the night before driving the final leg up the M6 to Bassenthwaite for Lisa and Gary's wedding yesterday.

The first one should be on here tomorrow.

Sarah and Dan, 23rd July

2011-07-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to Heysham. We’ve never been there before but it is a beautiful little seaside town. It’s like going back in time. Steven was very excited by the old Shell garage that reminded him of his childhood, it’s like the one on “Heartbeat”. Anyway, we didn’t go there as tourists. It was Sarah and Dan’s vow renewal ceremony. They got married in Australia last year. It’s the reverse of what we are doing next year when we go to Australia for the vow renewal ceremony of Gemma and Garth. The service was at St Peter’s Church on the cliff top at Heysham then the guests carried on to the Castle Green Hotel in Kendal for a reception.

We had a friend who joined us at the Hotel after we had finished. Andy Perkins is an old friend of Steve’s. They worked together in the eighties when they used to shoot several weddings all on one Saturday. Andy and us have been working together for the last year or two. Regular readers of this blog will remember he assisted us on Ola and Alex’s wedding in London last year. So, we had an enquiry for the same date after Sarah and Dan had booked, when the enquirer asked for a recommendation we had no hesitation in recommending Andy. Andy stayed with us for a couple of nights and photographed his wedding on Saturday at Troutbeck Church.

Here are the highlights.

Amy and Darren, 17th July

2011-07-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

This was the third wedding we documented in 4 days. So we got back from Nic and Max’s wedding late on Saturday night, 4o winks and down to Grange for Amy and Darren.

Amy is American and Darren is English so we were witness again to another joining of cultures. Both families are lovely and fitted in with each other really well.

The whole day was at the Grange Hotel in Grange over Sands, last time we were there was back in April for Emma and Dom. This time it rained and although we did have a short break in the showers to get the big group picture we had to make other formals inside the hotel. Amy and Darren took the rain in their stride though.

I know we’ve used this music before but given the 9 years these two spent flying backward and forward across the Atlantic we reckon it’s appropriate.

Max and Nic, 16th July

2011-07-26T10:36:00.001-07:00

Nic is Andy’s brother, remember Andy and Lenore? We photographed their wedding in October last year. Nic and Maxine liked what we did for Andy and Lenore and booked us for their wedding last week.

So we went to Manchester. Nic and Max live in London, not far from Andy and Lenore, but Maxine was brought up in Urmston where her parents still live, in fact her Grandad lives across the road from them, which meant Max and Nic could get ready in the same street, just down the road from the Church, and they didn’t have to see each other on the morning of the wedding until Max and her Dad walked down the aisle. The wedding was at the family Church, there’s even a picture in the Church of Max’s Dad as a choir boy.

After the wedding we all traveled to Adlington Hall which is near Macclesfield for the reception.

Oh, it rained a bit but have a look at how it didn't really matter.

We've revived our portrait blog.

2011-07-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

Once you've caught up with all our news and played the slideshows you've not seen on here yet. Go and have a look at our portrait blog. We started it when we moved into the Bowness studio but because we were so busy with weddings and posting on here we stopped using it. Anyway, it's back...Have a look.

Greg and Cameron, 14th July

2011-07-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday was the start of a very busy weekend for us, lots more to follow.

The Samling is such a nice venue, it’s a bit like doing a wedding in somebody’s house. We were there again last Thursday. We had the job of documenting the celebrations of Greg and Cameron’s civil partnership commitment. Greg and Cameron arrived in a vintage car and were welcomed by their friends and families and afternoon tea. The ceremony was followed by a champagne reception. The sun was very hot and everybody soon sort shade under the gazebo. Greg and Cameron cut a cake decorated with their beloved Minis before they and their guests sat down to dinner.

The Highlights are here.

Josh is not a fan of being the centre of attention

2011-07-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes an image looks better when the subject is not looking into the camera. Here's a tip for photographers, don't just tell the subject to look away, find something, or somebody and ask your subject to look at them. So, Josh is directing reflected light back at Kirsty and Steve says "look at Josh". He gets so embarrassed, where should he look? Steve knows he hates it but it does help the image along. This time Jim's Uncle Chris was on hand to capture the full impact of the moment. Thanks for the pic Chris.

Ade and Sam, 7th July

2011-07-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

Back to Storrs hall, one of our regular Lake District Hotels last Thursday. Ade and Sam had very definite ideas about how their wedding should be documented. They love our observational approach and story telling style, the Best man even mentioned it in the speeches and made a toast to us, I don’t think that has ever happened before. So, they just wanted a couple of groups and a few minutes on portraits, which meant a short walk to the Folly and the rest of the time they got on with enjoying their day and we set about recording it unobtrusively. That’s the way we like it.

Here are the highlights.

Frances and Dom, 2nd July

2011-07-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

The last time we went past the Coniston Coppermines we were walking the Coniston range. We’ve never driven up there before. A couple of months ago we got rid of our Land Rover and bought a brand new Fiat 500. It was all about being friendly to the planet but some drives are just best left to Land Rovers so we kind of wished we had hung on to it a bit longer. We got there though and Fran and Dom’s was the Coppermine’s first full on ceremony and reception.

Fran was delivered by a very vintage car, probably originally built for that type of road. Bridge catering made sure everybody was fed and watered and water, as well as other liquid refreshment was in very high demand, it was a hot one.

When the couple emerged from the ceremony they were presented with a guard of honour formed by Fran’s hockey friends. Milnthorpe Steel Band entertained the guests until diner was served and Fran and Dom danced to the music from a beautiful Wurlitzer Juke Box.

The slideshow is here...

Kirsty and Jim, 25th June

2011-06-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

The name’s Wood, James Wood…

Just South of London, a couple of miles from Croydon is an oasis known as Oaks Farm. That’s where we went for Kirsty and Jim’s wedding. They found us way back in 2007 and made the decision to book when we met them in London in 2009. When we asked them what decided them they said it was our enthusiasm for their choice of Jim’s transport, an Aston Martin DB5…I know… Josh got a ride but Steve had to keep working.

Kirsty looked great as well. After diner the light was fantastic. That hour before sunset we’ve talked about before that we call the “golden hour” so we grabbed the opportunity to make some portraits with Kirsty. We think the pictures look like they’ve come off the pages of a fashion magazine. There are two or three in the slideshow see what you think.

So, Mr. Bond, here are the highlights.

Sarah and Rob, 18th June

2011-06-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

We went to Malton in North Yorkshire for Rob and Sarah’s wedding. They are from that part of the country but they live in London now. It’s quite a drive from Bowness and there was a huge diversion around Harrogate so we were worrying about arriving in time, but we made it in the end.

We had a third pair of eyes with us. Craigh Bennett is new to the business of wedding photography and is looking to learn. He came to meet us a month or so ago and asked if he could shadow us on a wedding, so, with Rob and Sarah’s permission, he came with us. He got some good images and Rob and Sarah got an extra angle.

Rob rented a Caterham 7 To travel to the Old Lodge Hotel. He did get one with a roof so the rain on the morning wasn’t too much of an issue. By the time Sarah and everybody were ready the rain had stopped and following the ceremony everybody spilled out into the grounds.

The collection of mirrors that lined the wall of where Rob and Sarah performed their first dance presented us with both a challenge and an opportunity for some creative angles.

The highlights are here

New web site

2011-06-24T04:15:00.000-07:00

We are working on a new site. It's in very early development but we would love some feedback, especially from past present and future customers. Tell us what you think compared to our old site. Click here to have a look. Tell us what you think in the comments section.

Svetlana and Martin, 15th June

2011-06-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here it is at last. A wedding photographer’s dream. Lovely people, gorgeous location, beautiful light. Fashion, fabrics, flowers, food, favours, fun and not far from Florence.

So we’ve talked it up enough. We already mentioned the venue, Villa di Catignano near Siena, the videographer, Massimiliano Galaardi. It was all held together by Laura of Varese Wedding. Frankly, we had a great time photographing Svetlana and Martin’s Tuscan wedding.

It was another mix of cultures, Martin’s family are Irish Catholic and Svetlana’s are Russian Jewish. The wedding was in Italy and a humanist celebrant conducted a mix of Jewish and Catholic traditions.

The pictures say far more about their day than words in any language. You can see a slideshow here.

Svetlana and Martin in Siena

2011-06-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry to keep you waiting, since June 11th we have shot three weddings, two pre wedding shoots, went to Italy and North Yorkshire and moved house. So, a bit tired and racing to catch up with the blogging Facebooking and loads and loads of images to process.

We landed at Pisa airport on Tuesday afternoon and after an anxious wait for our bags to appear we walked outside to the smell of heat, just not used to it in the Lakes. Martin was waiting for us and drove us to the venue, Villa di Catignano near Siena. We hit the ground running, it’s a 2 and a half hour drive from the airport, we were staying in the Villa along with all of the wedding guests. We had just enough time to freshen up and then we were back on the road to Siena. The plan was to do a sort of “post pre wedding shoot” with Svetlana and Martin in the beautiful, historic Siena. A “post pre wedding shoot” because we did a pre wedding shoot with Svetlana and Martin near their home in Canary Wharf last March. Our guide was Massimiliano Galaardi. Max, as we came to know him, is a videographer based in Siena. He was going to be shooting the wedding with us, he took us to some of the most photogenic locations in the City.

Max, like us in the Lakes, has the weather on his side. We order sunshine from Kodak, Max gets his from Cannon. So we stayed lucky until we finished shooting and Max left us. Almost as soon as we shook hands and said Ciao we got caught in a downpour that would put the Lake District to shame. Martin and Svetlana were dressed as you see them in the slideshow and we were in shirt and jeans. Our Lastolite reflector doubled as an umbrella to try, in vain, to save Svetlana’s hair but an early morning salon visit still had to be made to rescue the work that had been done before.

So part one is the post pre wedding shoot. Click here for a taste of the wedding itself.

Don’t lose the plot…

2011-06-17T09:04:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago Steven got an E-mail from “Photography Monthly” Magazine. They wanted to run a feature on how to tell a story of a wedding day in pictures, so who else could they ask? He did it and, as we were working on James and Bridget’s pictures at the time, we used mostly their images to illustrate the article. Three copies arrived in the post while we were away so I guess it’s in the shops now. We got some good coverage, over 6 pages, even a picture of Steven himself printed in two places in case you weren’t sure what you saw the first time. The magazine is only £3.99 so go get one now.

By the way, did I just say "while we were away?" We’ve just shot a wedding in Tuscany. We flew out for Svetlana and Martin’s wedding on Tuesday and got back on Thursday night. We are processing the pictures as I write this. Wow, what amazing light. The wedding was fabulous and the pictures are fantastic. We are working with Rob and Sarah tomorrow in North Yorkshire so we won’t get the slide shows from Italy on here until after the weekend, yes I did say slide shows. We did a sort of post pre wedding shoot in Siena the evening before the wedding. That will be one slide show and the wedding will be another. Post pre wedding because we already did a pre wedding shoot in London with Svetlana and Martin last year. Remember?

Kendall and James, 11th June

2011-06-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

This one is on here a bit earlier than normal because we are going to Italy tomorrow (lucky us) for Svetlana and Martin’s wedding.

The last time we were at Jesus Church Troutbeck it was December and there was a thick covering of snow on the ground. Saturday the sun was shining and it was positively barmy. As Rev. David Wilmot said in his welcome address “doesn’t Cumbria scrub up well?”

So Kendall and James got married.

We met Kendall, her sister and Mum last year when they came to book us. Kendall has a degree in event organisation so nothing was going to be left to chance on Saturday. And it did run extremely smoothly, calmly and with immaculate timing.

The reception was at the Cragwood, it’s always good to see Phil, he seems as though he has always been there. Video was looked after by the nicest videographer in the world, Brian from Safehabour Productions

It did start to rain after the meal, but it didn’t matter by then.

Click here for highlights...

Rachel and Mark, 4th June

2011-06-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

Back to the Wirral, this time for Mark and Rachel. I’m not really sure if the Wirral is part of Cheshire, Merseyside or is it a county in it’s own right? Perhaps somebody will enlighten us in the comments section. Anyway, we were crossing county and national borders all day. Rachel got ready at her parent’s home in Hawarden which is in Flintshire, so North Wales, the wedding took place at St. Werburgh’s Church in Chester, so that will be Cheshire then and the boys got ready at the reception venue in Whitchurch which has a Shrewsbury postcode and the address is Shropshire but somebody said it was Wales. We didn’t need passports though and satnavs are such a great invention that it didn’t really matter.

Rachel and Mark were married in style by Father Paul. Music is clearly an important part of their family lives, Rachel’s Mum sang with her group during the ceremony.

After the ceremony we headed to Iscoyd Park, a fabulous house in beautiful grounds dedicated to the celebration of marriages. The gardens are wonderful and the rows of lavender fitted the colour themes of the day perfectly.

Mark’s Mother is Polish, she and Mark’s father dressed in traditional costume to conduct a Polish bread ceremony which concluded with Rachel and Mark downing a shot of Vodka each and throwing the glasses over their shoulders. Rachel and Mark met at Ballroom dancing classes so their first dance was a breeze.

Click here for the highlights

Barbara and Stephen, 2nd June

2011-06-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

Funny how things work out. Before Andy and Michelle’s wedding a couple of weeks ago, the last time we were at the Swan in Newby Bridge was 2009. Then on Thursday, we were back again. This time the wedding was Stephen and Barbara’s. They work in the Hotel business in Liverpool so they know all about weddings but from the other side.

Barbara is French and her family made the trip from Bordeaux. Not everyone spoke English and not everyone spoke French but the families were not held back by language.

The weather did the oddest thing. When we arrived in the morning and made our way up to Barbara’s room the sky was overcast, it felt a little cold for June. We even discussed the fact that it looked as though it was going to rain and made provision for doing some of the formal pictures inside. Then, while we were in the ceremony the sun shone through and we got a heatwave. Suddenly June burst out.

Here are the highlights.

Rebecca and Tom, 28th May

2011-06-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

We had a great day with Andy and Michelle and got straight back to the studio to upload their pictures because early the next morning we were down the motorway to Chester for Rebecca and Tom.

We met Rebecca and Tom last year, we got on well and they liked our style of wedding photography so they booked, there may have been chocolate biscuits involved but, like all of our couples, they knew what they wanted. That was just a handful of posed pictures but our story telling style of observational wedding photography was very much on their list of requirements for their day.

So, Rebecca and Tom live in Chester and that’s where Josh arrived first to meet up with Tom, his parents and the Groomsmen. Steven went on to West Kirby to Rebecca’s parent’s home where the ladies were preparing. We photographed a couple of weddings last year on the Wirral and we are finding ourselves there a lot this year as well. We do get to go to lots of places but it is nice when you can retrace familiar routes.

The wedding took place at West Kirby Parish Church and then a reception was held in a marquee in the grounds of Rebecca’s parent’s guest House Peel Hey.

We were back in Chester last Saturday for Rachel and Mark’s wedding, their slideshow will be on here in a few days.

The highlights of Rebecca and Tom’s wedding are here.

Please be aware this one may take a little bit of time to load so be patient with us.

Michelle and Andy, 27th May

2011-06-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

Michelle and Andy booked us because of our chocolate biscuits. It was important to them that they had a fantastic record of their Lake District wedding day with the minimum of interference from their unobtrusive wedding photographers, but they were also seduced by those biscuits. We think the coffee might have helped as well, Josh got a taste of Andy’s Turkish style coffee making skills at their home in Warton, before they left for Church.

There were notable appearances from some of Andy and Michelle’s four legged friends. Mr Tibbs played an important part in the Groom’s preparations and when the couple came out of Church there was a welcome from Michelle’s horse Dude and some of his stable mates.

The reception was at the Swan Hotel in Newby Bridge, we went back there on Thursday for Stephen and Barbara’s wedding, that’s to follow.

Here are the highlights, the music, which was their first dance song was made by Andy and Michelle’s friends Maupa.

They talk about us in London ...

2011-05-31T04:11:00.000-07:00

When we first moved to our studio in Bowness we had display prints made by The Printspace in London. They are a chic lab in Shoreditch who work for some of the big names in fashion, fine art, advertising and editorial photography. They asked if they could use our image of Tamsin for their advertising.

Of course we were flattered that they asked and it has done the rounds of the trade shows, they are planning to use it on their web site as well.

A couple of weeks ago they contacted us again and asked if we could send them some images that they could put on their blog along with a short write up about us.

Here it is.

Sorry to mess you around...

2011-05-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

So, we tried another blog. We had so many calls and E mails from people who said they couldn't see the new blog properly. Seems it didn't work with some browsers so we've gone back to the old one. Sorry to mess you around. We think it looks better than it did and if you've missed us we have published a months worth again on here. Keep watching this one then.

Steven and Josh

The Wedding Photographer as an Impartial Observer. First Posted 25th May 2011

2011-05-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

Years ago, when I first worked as a wedding photographer there appeared to be only one style. Every picture was posed and wedding photographers seemed to dominate the wedding day. I didn’t enjoy that very much and I heard that couples and guests didn’t either. I did other sorts of photography work, advertising, industrial, architectural, Press and editorial. I always did a few weekend weddings, early on, I did them the way I was trained, but it never felt comfortable.

I was always very interested in documentary photography. Work by people like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliot Erwitt and W. Eugene Smith inspired my personal work.

One day I got thinking about documentary photography and weddings. What a great subject a wedding would make for a documentary photographer. At the end of the eighties a photographer friend of mine asked me if I would photograph his Sister’s wedding. He could have done a great job himself but he was an Usher and a guest. We talked it over and with the blessing of everyone involved I set about it as a documentary photographer would. We agreed I would do some posed pictures of the Bride and Groom and the principle guests but the majority of the pictures would be in a “fly on the wall” style. My chance to try a new approach to wedding photography had arrived. I had a great time but I never really saw the pictures because I handed the films over to my friend. From that wedding on though I decided I would work as a documentary photographer whenever I was asked to photograph a wedding.

Around the same time that I started working in this way, as is often the case with trends, other photographers began to offer a similar approach. What happened next was a new style of wedding photography. I thought long and hard about what it was I was offering. Choosing to work this way was not a purely stylistic decision. It was in response to the “photographer dominated” style of wedding photography that was around at the time. I heard loads of complaints about photographers spoiling the celebrations by taking a long time over posed pictures. I also believed I could make beautiful documentary pictures while working virtually unnoticed.

I decided the way forward for me was to formulate a philosophy, a kind of manifesto of wedding photography. What I didn’t want to do was take over, I didn’t want to set up or contrive pictures in any way and I didn’t want to influence the day. My involvement as a photographer would end with looking for, and making images that would be both flattering and tell the story of the wedding.

Photography is all about light, the word comes from the Greek and literally translates as light writing, the traditional wedding photographer would position the subject in the best light or add lighting to create an interesting or beautiful image. As an impartial observer I couldn’t do that, I would have to look for the light, position myself and wait for my subject to move into the best position. Traditional photographers posed their subjects and encouraged a suitable expression with banter or requests to smile. The impartial observer has to watch and move and follow until the elements that make a strong, story telling image come together, what my hero, Henri Cartier-Bresson calls “the decisive moment”. As a wedding photographer, my job is to collate a series of “decisive moments” that will work together in sequence and series to create the story of a wedding day.

In those early days I made a lot of the pictures on black and white film and printed them myself in the darkroom. I made some pictures in colour because couples have usually thought long and hard about the colours they want to use on their day so it is important to record them. Black and white though is an excellent story telling medium. When you look at a colour picture the first thing you notice is the colour, even when it is subdued colour can be a distraction. Even though now we can decide at the processing stage whether we are going to make colour or black and white we still favour black and white for about 60% of the pictures. We offer customers the choice to have all of the pictures in colour but almost all choose to go with our decision.

So now there’s two of us. Part of our job as impartial observers is to be as unobtrusive as possible. That does not mean that we hide with long lenses like voyeurs, it means we blend in to the day and conduct ourselves in a way that doesn’t draw attention. As much as possible we will avoid using flash, for one it is intrusive and secondly available light is often more attractive and realistic.

It’s not all “fly on the wall” though. Couples still ask us to make 4 or 5 group pictures so that they have an assured record of some of those that shared their day. It would be remiss to not make a beautiful portrait of the Bride and Groom soon after they are married. Even with these posed pictures we are very careful that the pose and lighting is very natural and in no way contrived.

Together we photograph around 40 weddings a year all over the UK and beyond in our narrative style as impartial observers.

Steven Taylor

Claire and Nick, 14th May. First Posted 18th May 2011

2011-05-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

We always say it but we love the Merewood. Everyone there is friendly, very good at what they do and the food is amazing. We were there again on Saturday for the wedding of Nick and Claire.

Claire’s parents live in Ulverston but she is a partner in a GP practice in Leeds. Nick is from Josh’s University City, Newcastle. Purple was special and the first dance was more than accomplished. We heard in the speeches that Claire was a keen dancer but it soon emerged that Nick had been practicing as well.

While the guests were in diner we went and found a couple of old albums that we have at the Hotel. One went right back to 2002, it brought back some memories.

Here are the highlights…

Rob and Sarah, Bluebells and stealth photographers. First Posted May 17th 2011

2011-05-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

Been a little while since we blogged, sorry. There was no wedding for us on the weekend of 7th May so instead we met with Rob and Sarah for a Pre wedding date. Rob and Sarah are getting married on 18th June in North Yorkshire and we are looking forward to their wedding.

We went for a walk by the Lake, Steve hid in the Bluebells and jumped out every now and then to surprise passers by.

Rob and Sarah are both designers, lots of our clients work in media related professions so we reckon that it is a compliment that they choose us to make their wedding photos for them.

A One Off…First posted May 7th 2011

2011-05-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Last night, while we were updating our Facebook page and blogging the highlights of Rachael and Fraser’s wedding, we got a message on our Facebook wall from Claire Victory. Claire said, “Steven, one day can you show some of our wonderful pics!!”

Steven photographed Claire and Michael’s wedding in 2008. The wedding was at Westminster Cathedral with the reception at one of Claire and Michael’s Restaurants in South London.

So, at the risk of starting a trend, we are quite busy…

Just for you Claire… and happy anniversary in two weeks time!

Rachael and Fraser, 1st May. First Posted May 6th 2011

2011-05-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

The Coot on the Tarn is a popular wedding venue in Gt Urswick, just down the road actually, but we’ve never worked there before. Rachael and Fraser live in Ulverston now so the venue is pretty much on their doorstep.

We always like our couples and Rachael and Fraser are no exception. When they first came to see us they went on to meet another photographer who also happens to be a friend of ours. When we met up with our friend a couple of weeks later we all said how much we liked Rachael and Fraser and that we both wanted to book their wedding. Well we won and I’m glad we did.

Fraser is a Scot and a submariner plus he’s in one of those teams that run with bits of a huge field gun and assemble and fire it in the military tattoos. He’s a tough cookie, but he’s not afraid to shed a tear or two. Rachael and Fraser’s wedding was one of the most emotionally charged we’ve seen in a while. Rachael did look stunning as Fraser saw her for the first time on the day, probably didn’t help Fraser’s composure that she was preceded by his 10 year old daughter Erin.

So there were kilts (and it was windy), a very promising comedy duo in the shape of the two Best men, some beautiful Bridesmaids and a gorgeous, flame haired Bride, easy for us then.

Oh, I think Rachael and Fraser may have a penchant for a certain top end label of Champagne.

Slideshow as usual is right here...

After 35 years in the business Steven Taylor Photography become an overnight success…First posted April 28th 2011

2011-05-29T04:59:00.001-07:00

Just before Christmas we did a telephone interview with “Turning Pro” magazine. The magazine is aimed at photographers who are in the process of entering the photography profession. Being a wedding photographer has to be one of the best jobs in the world, well that’s the way it appears to those that are not yet in it. We work with happy people on lovely days and we only work on Saturdays. Well the last bit is not quite true, but that means there are literary thousands of hopefuls looking for a start in the business. So, there is a magazine aimed at them.

A lot of the quotes came from our “Art of Observation” articles over on the old blog. Those articles were about our observational approach, not posing but making factual documents of weddings. The article talks a lot about our unobtrusive philosophy but they have also included some of our posed portraits in the magazine. We like the coverage we got and thought we would like to share it.

Click here to see the article. May take a little while (13mb) in fact if your connection is not quick it might be faster to go to WH Smiths.

Charlie and Cormac, 23rd April.First Posted 26th April 2011

2011-05-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

What a busy week this has been. We were back at the Langdale Chase hotel again on Saturday for the wedding of Charlie and Cormac; you may remember we met them for a pre wedding date at their home on Primrose Hill. So the day came. It was actually quite laid back, Charlie was ready with time to spare and Cormac had so much time on his hands he even managed to sit outside with Charlie’s brother’s baby for a while, Charlie saw him through the window.

We knew when we met Charlie and Cormac their day was going to be fun and it certainly lived up to our expectations. A Jazz band entertained during the afternoon and suitable head gear was made available for anyone who could dig that daddyo’…groovy!... and all three of the speeches were hilarious. We are looking forward to Charlie and Cormac coming back to Bowness to design their album.

In the meantime, the music will help the highlights come flooding back.

Sian and Paul, 21st April. First Posted 25th April 2011

2011-05-29T04:45:00.000-07:00

Following our excursion to the capital we hightailed it back up the M6 on Thursday for Sian and Paul’s wedding. Just up the road this time at one of our favourite venues. We were at The Linthwaite House Hotel for the second time this year. It was hot, really hot and this is April. Sian and Paul made the best of the weather enjoying canapes and drinks in the gorgeous gardens at Linthwaite House. Although we get to travel all over the UK, and beyond, for weddings it is so nice to come home and work in the fantastic surroundings we have here in the Lakes… and on days like last Thursday you can actually see the hills.

Click here for the highlights.

Annabelle and Alvin and a tour of London. First Posted 24th April 2011

2011-05-29T04:38:00.000-07:00

This is a slight departure from our normal practice.

In February we got an E-mail from Annabelle. She said she had seen our web site and blog and liked our style. She asked if we would make some pre wedding pictures in London for her and her fiancé Alvin. Their wedding will be at home in Singapore in October.

The tradition in Singapore is to have a set of pre wedding pictures made and the images are shown to the guests on the wedding day. Annabelle and Alvin are fond of London; Annabelle did a student exchange at Surrey when she was studying, so they wanted to go to the sights and flew in especially.

We set the day for Wednesday last week and arranged to meet them at Kings Cross station. Addison Lee got us to Waterloo and down to the South Bank. Then with the help of a couple of black cabs and Shank’s Pony we did the tour. It was with sore feet that we went to document Sian and Paul’s wedding on Thursday.

Annabelle told us how much she liked musical theatre and that they were going to see something on Thursday. We don’t know if they have seen “Me and My Gal” but we thought the music sort of works.

Click here to see if you agree.

Rachel, Mark and a boat. First Posted 23rd April 2011

2011-05-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

Continuing our theme of the Pre wedding date, on Sunday we had a day on the Lake with Rachel and Mark. We are photographing their wedding in Chester on 4th June this year. Rachel’s parents joined us for our meeting; apparently Rachel’s Dad was looking for an excuse to come to the Lakes and had got wind of our chocolate biscuits. It was Mark’s first visit to the Lakes, I’m sure he’ll be back. We took a boat out and had a short walk by the shore.

Emma and Dom, 16th April. First posted 19th April 2011

2011-05-29T04:20:00.000-07:00

We tootled over to Grange over Sands in our new Fiat 500 on Saturday to document the wedding of Dom and Emma. Like most of the couples we photograph they were not at their most comfortable having a camera pointed at them. So, as is our style, we got on with being unobtrusive documentary photographers. Emma and Dom though, are so photogenic and as the light after their wedding breakfast down on the prom was so incredible we just had to go for a little walk. We are glad we did, we think we may have some award winners.

Emma’s Dad is a florist, very handy when you’re planning a wedding. Although he was on a bit of a busman’s holiday the flowers from Derek’s business, Robinson’s florists were beautiful.

We are putting the slideshow up early because we have a very busy week this week. We are off to London now, then back to the Lakes for Sian and Paul on Thursday and Charlie and Cormac on Saturday. It’s that time of year again, we love it really.

Click to view the highlights (go on make it full screen!)

Pre wedding date. First posted on April 15th 2011

2011-05-29T04:06:00.000-07:00

We are giving it a whole new name and approach. We already decided that we were going to call the pre wedding shoot a pre wedding date before today when our landlords came to see us. While they were looking at the pictures of pre wedding shoots on the walls, James said they look like they’re on their first date. Well, that’s what we thought as well and inspired by Mart and Suzanne’s story of their first date, eating fish and chips sat on the wall at Tynemouth Beach where we photographed them a couple of weeks ago, we decided we would change the whole concept of pre wedding shoots.

We always had a slight problem with the concept of pre wedding shoots. Our style of wedding photography is all about being an impartial observer. Watching for the decisive moments that provide a narrative of a wedding day. However we also like meeting people and getting know them before we photograph their weddings so we went with the tradition of the “engagement session” or as the new generation of wedding photographers are calling it, “the pre wedding shoot”. So now the dilemma, as observational story tellers how do we square the contrived concept of making photographs of a couple for no other reason than to make photographs? Ok, this new concept is still a little contrived but it does sit better with us.

The idea is for us to go on a date, just the 4 of us, romantic hey? We can go for a walk, train ride, boat trip, order fish and chips, coffee, play crazy golf, feed the ducks…we are open to suggestions but keep it cheap and we never kiss on the first date.

It was Andy and Michelle who started the rumor that we only get booked because of the chocolate biscuits. So we knew they had the sense of humor to be up for the whole first date thing. We had already arranged to meet them on the beach at Hest Bank. It was very windy, Andy and Steve were quite jealous of Michelle and Josh’s tussle with hair and wind. We did try to get fish and chips but the chippy was shut, so was the beach café, but we all had such a lovely time it didn’t matter.

That bus never came you know.

Hello weary web traveller...

2011-05-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

We have noticed that this blog still gets a lot of traffic, this makes us very happy, we think there are two reasons.

1. You may have landed here to view some of our older work that is not on our blog, in which case carry on and enjoy!

2. You may have landed here because you have just found out about us, by all means read through. Our new work can be found on our new blog over at http://www.steventaylorphotography.co.uk/blog.

We hope however you have come across this page that you enjoy the content as much as we enjoyed creating it. Send us an email, leave a comment or come and see us at the Studio in the Lake District. All you need to know is contained on our main site.

StevenTaylorPhotography

Best wishes to you all

Josh

New look blog

2011-04-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

We've got a new blog, it's here
You can still see this one, there is a link from the new one back here, so all the slideshows are still available.

Bridget and James, 9th April 2011

2011-04-13T04:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we drove over to West Yorkshire to Marsden, quite near Huddersfield. The wedding of Bridget and James took place in a lovely country House called Crow Hill. The ceremony was in the house but the wedding breakfast was served in their stunningly decorated marquee.

We hadn’t met Bridget and James before Saturday and we didn’t get around to asking them how they found us. So we were delighted when one of their guests told us that they were at Jo and Lee’s wedding that we photographed on the Wirral last year and that they had shown Jo and Lee’s slideshow to James and Bridget and that’s how they knew about us. That’s always great to hear but what is even better was that Jo and Lee were guests at John and Claire’s wedding at Peckforton Castle and John and Claire were guests at Jenny and Ian’s wedding at the Merewood the year before that. There were also some connections with Jenny and Ian and Keely and Will and Lisa and Carl. So, maybe we could stop spending so much money on advertising in wedding magazines.

Driving back from the wedding we saw a huge fire on the Moor that a helicopter was flying in to drop water on. It was very dramatic and our journalistic instincts were only stifled by the fact that we had just finished a wedding and were just a little tired.

Click here for a slideshow..

More Pre wedding shoots

2011-04-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday was very busy. We had 4 studio sittings on Saturday but the day began with coffee and croissants in our meeting room with Nick and Claire. Their wedding is on 14th May this year and looks like it’s going to be fun. After our meeting we went for a walk down to the lake. We should have taken one of the croissants to feed the ducks, maybe next time.

On Sunday we went to Newcastle, Joshy’s University City. The memories came flooding back as we drove past the Morrison’s were we stocked his first larder, bless! We met Mart and Suz on the Millennium Bridge. A few piccies there and then Mart drove us to Tynemouth Beach. Just as we finished we got inspired to come up with a new idea for Pre wedding shoots. We told Mart and Suz and they thought it was great. Watch this space.

We’ve been doing market research

2011-03-31T08:17:00.000-07:00

We like to keep an eye on how we are doing from time to time. To see how easy it is for people to find us and just to reassure ourselves that we are doing the right things. The difficulty is we don’t really have much contact with an enquirer if they decide not to book us and clearly if a couple don’t enquire we have no contact at all. So, what we set out to do is probably inconclusive that didn’t dawn on us until after we started to read the replies.

Still we liked the replies so much we thought we would like to share some of them.

We E-mailed a random selection of last year’s couples and some of this year’s Brides to be. We asked two questions

Can you remember how you found us?

And

What made up your mind to book us?

Here are a few of the answers:

“We found you through a Google search.

We absolutely loved your website, the home page caught our attention immediately, with various different types of shots and especially loved the added extra of the music. It sounds silly but if you can imagine yourself in the picture with the same sense of happiness the shot and music can fill you with then you're definitely on the right path for finding the perfect for photographer for you. Get's you really excited for the big day!

Thanks again, it's been nearly a year now!”

“Google search for Windermere wedding photographers.

Your approach, general appearance of your website and your gallery.”

“We found your website after trawling the web for wedding photographers in the area, and was one of the first things we looked for. Thinking back, your blog was also the deciding factor as to us choosing our church! As far as adverts and the like that caught our eye from the (still) ever-increasing pile of wedding magazines in the living room, I can't really recall any other advert that stood out - perhaps one from Lytham, but nothing else. The internet was definitely key for us finding you guys, as it allowed us to have a really good look at the styles and quality of photos and find photographers we're really happy with.

What made up our minds to book you?
The style of photographs, the quality of the photos, meeting you both in person, quality of chocolate biscuits, the strength of the coffee and the quality of chocolate biscuits (so good, they're worth mentioning twice!) And besides, you look like you could be quite handy on Photoshop if needs be!

In all seriousness though, it was the photographs that did it, plain and simple - to the point where we've restructured our entire budget to make sure we can have them.”

“1. Your names were on a list given to us by Linthwaite House Hotel.

2. I had been through nearly 2 dozen websites - weeded out the ones that seemed 'average' and yours were one of the best in terms of music (different), clarity of navigation (you'd be surprised at how many are rubbish!), variety of pictures (love, love, love the black and white ones) and the snippets about you two were very interesting.
I really wanted to email you, find out your prices and hopefully book you for our wedding - there's just an air of timelessness of so many photographs and I hoped that you would be the ones to capture this at our wedding!”

“We found you at our friends wedding! We loved their photos and the fact we were on some and hadn't noticed you taking them. This is what we wanted for our day! Loved the website too.

We thought we might not be able to afford you but having the flexibility of being able to book by the hour was excellent for us. Also the option of not being forced in to a traditional album and paying for the reproduction rights was perfect for us too.

Thanks again we still love our pictures!!”

“We found you on the Internet through a search on Google ''wedding photographers in Lake District''

We decided to book you as you were very helpful on the phone and were the most reasonable, out of the few we had looked at, for what we wanted.”

“We found you through the net, we liked your style of pics and we decided to use you guys after meeting you, as you were professional but friendly”

“We found you after hours and hours of searching online, looking in magazines etc. I think I came across your site on one of my web searches. Jim in particular was looking for a certain artistic flair in the photography and eventually we found you guys! We liked the balance of the formal/informal shots and all the smaller elements and details you caught on the weddings.

We decided to go with you on the day we met you both in London! We knew we loved the style and were reassured by the full albums you brought along. The friendly chat and enthusiasm of you both for what you do and also Jim's wedding car choice made us feel like you were on our wavelength and would capture what we were hoping for on the day. “

“No problem although I can't remember the answer to question 1. My best guess will be on the web or in the back of a wedding magazine.

For question 2, it was the lovely style of pictures, your helpful approach to answering my dappy questions and your pricing.”

“The Grange Hotel supplied us with a list of recommended suppliers and you were on that list. I looked through them all and preferred your style out of the others.

We felt comfortable with you both and that you understood what we wanted from the pictures, you talked us through everything and showed us lots of sample work, we loved the albums you showed to us, was an added bonus to get 2 photographers on the day and you were within our budget. Lots of reasons really!”

“Fairly simple: Internet search for wedding photographers and we liked what you had done for others on your web site.”

Pre Wedding Shoots in London

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Last weekend we went to London again. Remember this time last year we met 4 couples for pre wedding shoots in London and drank too much coffee? Well, we do like continuity. So this time we met not just our wedding couples but some of their family members as well, and again we drank far too much coffee.

Last year we photographed Andy and Lenore’s Lake District wedding. Andy’s brother Nic and his fiancée Max liked what we did and the way we worked for Andy and Lenore so they have booked us for their wedding in Cheshire this July. They live near to Andy and Lenore in Highbury so they were our first visit.

From there we went on to Primrose Hill and met Charlie and Cormac. They are great fun and Cormac picked up on our coffee rush. Steve was on overdrive, “quick into the vegetable shop…Josh add some light!” Cormac’s impression of Steve was enhanced by his Irish accent. We are looking forward to their wedding at The Langdale Chase on 23rd April.

Finally we had a meeting organized in Canary Wharf with Svetlana and Martin. We did their pre wedding shoot last year and we are photographing their wedding in Siena in June. First of all though we had a brief detour to Svetlana’s brother’s Docklands apartment. Anatole and Lydia have two small children Benjamin, who is 2 and a half and the newest edition Arielle who is just 5 weeks old. We are looking forward to meeting them again on 15th June in Tuscany.

Anne and Chris, 20th March 2011

2011-03-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

Phew…What a busy few days that was. On Sunday we drove up to Bassenthwaite Lake. For the wedding of Anne and Chris at the sumptuous Armathwaite Hall Hotel We only met Anne and Chris once before the day but seeing them again was like meeting old friends again.

This was one of our small weddings with only a handful of their nearest and dearest to witness the event. It doesn’t matter how many guests there are at a wedding we will always make a very full document of the day. We even managed to get down to the Lake for some portraits of the lovely couple.

We didn’t stay for dinner this time so we had to hotfoot it back down the A591 for a home cooked Sunday roast…That was alright as well.

Now we have caught up we are off to London for some pre wedding shoots.

So sit back and enjoy the highlights.

Sarah and Tim, 19th March 2011

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2 of 3. We love working at The Merewood. Not just because the food is fantastic, the décor conducive to great photos (they’ve just redecorated again) or the view is stunning but also because Lorna, Joe and Helen et al. are such fantastic hosts.

Sarah and Tim, surrounded by their best friends and lovely families, tied the knot in The Lonsdale Room on Saturday. It was great to see Becky and Jackie from Aqua who were looking after Sarah’s hair and make up. Josh spent the morning with Tim while Steven went straight to Sarah’s room.

We are so lucky with our job, we enjoyed our second gourmet meal of the week before Sarah and Tim danced their first dance to this appropriate lyric.

Enjoy the slideshow!

Trade secrets revealed…

2011-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

James Stewart is a photographer in the US and joined our Facebook page recently. He had some questions about the way we work and as we had some requests from others as well we thought it might be interesting for photographers and clients alike if we answered those questions here on our blog. We have no secrets and we are very happy to share technical and aesthetic approaches with other photographers. You can use the comments section on here or post on our Facebook page. We would like it to become a regular feature. We may not always have the answers but we will do our best.

So here is what James asked on our Facebook wall:

“Thank you for taking the time to write...I do have a couple of questions. When you are making the photographs I see here...you also take the more formal shots as well right? How do respond if you get clients that want you to do more formal shots and less observational shots? How much of these great shots are made post-wedding? Are there shots you take in many weddings that while they aren't traditional...are sort of your signature photograph? I also notice that many of the inside church photographs are made using natural light, what would you set your ISO to in order to capture enough light? I'm sorry for all the questions, but I would appreciate any help you could possibly give...Thank you again...”

I will take James’ questions one at a time but first I think there is a general theme running through. We tell the story of a wedding day through pictures. We are both academically trained in photography, which is not common among wedding photographers, so as well as the how we take photographs we contemplate the why we take photographs or why our clients want us to. I think that is quite unusual in our profession and goes some way to explaining what we achieve. Every image we make has a purpose. We photograph a wedding with the narrative in mind. We are not looking for single stand out pictures but sequences and series of story telling images, that’s why our slideshows work as well as they do. Because we have read the likes of Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes we understand a little about signs and signifiers that allude to narrative. So we look for the “tells” that complete the story.

So for James’ first question… Yes we do make “formal” group pictures and portraits of the couple. We talk to the couples that book us and we listen to their ideas of what they would like from their photographs and we always aim to please. I have been photographing weddings for 35 years so our “formal” (I’m putting that in quotation marks because they are pretty informal actually) are not bad but that is not what we are known for. So a couple who are looking for a lot of formal pictures are probably better spending their budget on somebody who does that sort of work. Family groups are an important part of the photography of a wedding day, it’s a rare opportunity to get the family together and some people have a knack of avoiding cameras so the formal situation might be a once only chance. But… we recommend that the list of requested formals is kept short, from our point of view, it’s better to make fewer, bigger groups than lots of small ones. We suggest the list is kept to 4 or 5 and one with everyone on if location and weather allow. That’s also true of the portraits we make of the couple. We don’t want to turn the wedding into a photo shoot. We would like our customers to take away an album that helps them to recall their wedding day not a memory of having their picture taken. Also we do not ask our customers to adopt unnatural poses for the sake of the photograph. For similar reasons I have a problem with added filters and effects but I think that might form the basis of another question.

I’m not quite sure what James meant by “post-wedding”. If he meant after the day the answer is none. All of our wedding pictures are made on the day. If he meant after the ceremony, the answer is most of the formals. The tradition in England is for the Bride and Groom not to meet on the day until they are at the altar, or in front of the registrar when the ceremony begins. Polish weddings, we have done a few, the Bride and Groom arrive together. So we usually do the formal pictures after the ceremony at the reception venue. Josh sometimes photographs the Groom, parents and attendants before the ceremony and I might do the same with the Bride.

I don’t think we really have signature images. We often see pictures recurring that we have made before but that’s probably because there are similar events going on that add to the narrative. We both like reflections, in mirrors, windows even shiny cars. We tend to use foreground objects out of focus, or shoot through naturally occurring frames. Guests can make great objects to frame and shoot through. We like using cars and buildings and we live and predominantly, work in one of the worlds most beautiful landscapes so it would be wrong of us not to make something of that. Principally though we respond to the personality of the wedding and the story of the day.

James said that he noticed that many of the inside Church pictures are made using natural light. All of our pictures are made using available light. Either natural daylight or room lighting. We don’t use flash or added lighting. We might, on occasions, use a reflector to bounce light back into a portrait or group picture. There are two reasons we don’t use flash. One, we want to preserve the atmosphere of the day. Added lighting is for the sake of photography only and although it can be done beautifully has nothing to do with the way it is on the day. The second reason we don’t use flash is we like to be unobtrusive, as soon as we fire a flash everybody knows there is a photographer in the room. So, ancient buildings and English weather all add up to very low light levels. Back in the day when we shot on film we really struggled, push processing film to add punch to underexposed highlights and non existent detail in deep, dark shadows. But we have arrived in the digital age and using the equipment we have now is like we have discovered the alchemist’s quest. We use Nikon D700’s. They have a full size sensor that offers up low noise even at very high ISO rating. We are more interested in noise reduction than we are megapixels so the D700 is our ultimate bit of kit. They are also small and fairly inconspicuous, we don’t want to stand out as photographers. In Church we may find ourselves working at 1600 ISO but first dance pictures are often made at 6400 ISO. We use noise reduction software in extreme circumstances, if we have had to pull detail out of shadows. We also add film grain effects. For two reasons, grain appears more attractive than noise and tends to mask it and two because we still love the look of Tri X deved in Rodinol.

I hope that helps, James and anybody else who may be interested. Please add comments or questions and we will answer them in a further post.

Amie and Marcin, 17th March 2011

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It has been a very busy few days for us. 3 weddings in 4 days at 3 of our favourite venues, more posts to follow.

On Thursday we went to Lancaster to document Amie and Marcin’s meeting of cultures. Amie’s family came from India and Marcin’s from Poland and they were married in Lancaster Priory. Regular readers of this blog will know that we are becoming familiar with Polish wedding traditions so we were delighted that after the Christian ceremony, with readings in English and Polish there was a colourful Hindu ceremony, the first we have photographed.

Coach transported the guests while their Bridesmaid drove Amie and Marcin. to Linthwaite House Hotel in Bowness. Amie wore a stunning white dress by Jennifer Pritchard-Couchman for the ceremony and changed into a sari for the dinner.

We had a great day, learnt a smattering of Polish and met some new friends in Debs and Lucy of PPL events. They just made the whole day seem effortless but perfect. Money well spent, we recommend.

So, Amie and Marcin, have a lovely time in India, pour some wine, sit back on your couch and enjoy the highlights all over again. BTW. The music is not salsa but we remember you liked it.

The 5th at 12, not the 12th at 5…

2011-03-09T08:14:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday we were waiting for our 1pm sitting to come in when we got a phone call, “Hi Steve, its Dominic, you are photographing our wedding on the 16th of April.” “Hi Dominic, how are you?” “we are fine, we are in Grange, we were expecting you at 12 for our pre wedding shoot?”. When we looked in the diary we had put them in on the 12th of March at 5pm instead of the 5th of March at 12, luckily Dominic and Emma are lovely people and didn’t hold it against us. We did our studio sitting and got to them for 2.30pm and made what we think are some stunning pictures (we think it was worth the wait!). We are looking forward to the wedding on the 16th of April (we will be there at 11am on the dot!).

Suzanne and Simon, 26th February

2011-03-06T04:05:00.000-08:00

There are a few places in the Lakes that we go to on a regular basis that when we do it’s like we are coming home. Storrs Hall Hotel is one of those; it’s always nice to see the familiar faces of Jan and his team. Last Saturday was the wedding of Suzanne and Simon. Apart from a brief downpour while we were making the family pictures it was a glorious February day in the English Lakes, we even got to go for a walk to the Folly. Suzanne had prepared by bringing wellingtons that were suitably themed and perfectly matched Simon’s purple shoes (I want some now although I don’t know if they will be suitable for an unobtrusive wedding photographer).

Suzanne and Simon sat down to what looked like a lovely meal as we were leaving. Our day ended with an extra bonus when we bumped into Rachael and Fraser, who we did the pre wedding shoot for the previous week, when we got back to the studio.

Here are the highlights.

Pre Wedding Shoots

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This is a quiet time of year for weddings so we are taking advantage of the space to get in some pre wedding shoots. Last weekend we met Rachael and Fraser in Ulverston and Amie and Marcin in Lancaster.

Anna and Alex, 4th February

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We started our 2011 wedding season last Friday at The Broadoaks Country House Hotel in Troutbeck .Steven has been photographing weddings in the Lake District for the last 23 years so we can’t believe we hadn’t been there before. We are due to be back later in the year. The house and grounds are beautiful. Unfortunately the luck we were experiencing last year with weather didn’t hold out for us this time. We couldn’t get to use the lovely gardens because it was bucketing down all day. That did not dampen any spirits though and Anna and Alex had a fantastic day.

There is something special about winter weddings and the evening dress adds an air of sophistication. In the days of film we would have really struggled with the low light levels (we have a serious aversion to the unnatural light produced by flash) but our “state of the art” digital sensors take this all in their stride. Talking of things technical, if any of Alex and Anna’s guests came across a Sandisk pouch containing two empty flash cards please get in touch, we would love them back.

Loads more weddings coming up. Click here for a slideshow.

Hello 2011

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Our competition was very successful. Congratulations to Beth and Chris and Joanna and Ian.

We have been very quiet since Christmas, not much to report really, it’s that time of year. So we are glad to be at the end of January and looking forward to a very busy 2011. We began the year with 25 weddings booked for 2011 and 3 for 2012, we now have 31 for 2011 and 5 for 2012, so that is looking very good indeed. We decided a while back that we would limit the number of packages we offer, they are very good value for money, but the majority of our coverages should be on an ala carte basis. A good proportion of our customers prefer that anyway. So we are now at the point where we only have three packages left for 2011. If you would like to try to book one of our remaining packages you will need to act fast. Go to our main site and send us an enquiry today, we hope we will still be available.

2011 is a significant year for me. It was 35 years ago that I first became a professional photographer. I had learnt the basics at art school and I knew an f stop from a bus stop, but I had lots more to learn. I went to work for Ray Vincent, he was one of the top portrait photographers in the UK at that time and is still in business. I went to see him recently. This year he reaches retirement age but I doubt that he will hang up his Hasselblad. He still shoots on film, he doesn’t even own a computer, and he is a master of light. Ray’s pictures jump out of the frame at you, crisp, punchy and expertly lit. It’s rare to see such skill these days. It seems incredible to me now that when I came up North to work as the “Photographer in Residence” at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal I was practically a “Journeyman” with a mere 13 years experience. Back then I thought I knew it all but I am proving to myself everyday that I still have lots to learn.

While we have been quiet I have gone back to my roots. Walking with a film camera and going into the darkroom to process and print. I love making pictures this way; it is a special skill, a craft that has very little space in the world of commercial photography anymore. The quality I achieve from a carefully made fibre based print is unique. It is the methodology that got me hooked on this profession 35 years ago. I intend to work on some portfolios of my landscape work and I will make an announcement as to how you can see them in the coming months.

Steven Taylor January 2011

A very merry Christmas to all our readers.

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Last year we had a little competition to find our favourite wedding picture of 2009. It was such a success that we decided to run it again this year. We have changed the rules a little though.

In 2010 we were privileged to be present at, and photograph the weddings of 34 fabulous couples. We always work as a team. On the day Steven goes with the Bride and Josh goes with the Groom. Steven shoots the portraits and formals and back in the studio, Josh does the processing.

This year we wanted to give all of our couples a chance to win so we have selected images from all 34 weddings. Because we don’t want to compete with each other we have each selected our own favourite pictures from each wedding. So every couple has two chances of winning.

The winner of Steve’s favourites and the winner of Josh’s favourites will each receive a framed wall print of the image of their choice. That’s worth £160 each so we really are feeling the Christmas spirit here.

What we need you to do is to join us on Facebook (if you haven’t already), have a good look through all of the pictures and choose your favourite from Steven’s and your favourite of Josh’s then click “like” for those pictures. We would love to read any comments you would like to make about the images. What is more, and we really are feeling generous at this festive time, we will select, at random, two people who have voted and give them a family portrait, anywhere in mainland UK, and a framed print for free.

The deadline for voting is twelfth night, 6th January at midnight. After that your vote will not be counted, just like X Factor.

Remember, you are not voting for the nicest couple, they will all win that, we would like you to choose, what, in your opinion is the best of Steven’s pictures and the best of Josh’s… and don’t try and set us against each other, we don’t want a father and son dispute at Christmas, that normally occurs naturally.

So, if you haven’t already done so, join our Facebook page here.

Now we are off to London for Christmas.

Rebecca and Andrew 20th December

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This was our final wedding of 2010, the next will be Alex and Anna on 4^th February.

We were a little concerned when we saw the weather forecast because the wedding was at Troutbeck Church, which, as anybody who knows this part of the world will be aware, is up a hill and not the most accessible of Churches in the Lakes. We knew we could always get there in the Land Rover but we were a little concerned that there might not be many guests. As it turned out, despite the fact that the guests were traveling from all over the UK, nearly everybody who was invited made it.

Troutbeck Church at any time is one of the most beautiful Churches set in picturesque surroundings but in the snow it looked just like a Christmas card.

We have noticed lately that confetti is not as popular at weddings as it once was but this time there was an alternative. Rebecca and Andrew were greeted with a volley of gently tossed snowballs as they emerged from the Church gate. A few stray particles of snow found their way down our necks as we photographed the pelting. Lovely as it looked we think we would like to go back to confetti.

The reception was at The Beech Hill Hotel; it was lovely to be back there. We made some formal pictures on the balcony and a very tame Robin who must have heard we were looking for a Christmas theme to the pictures joined us.

So here is our Christmas wedding of 2010.

Christmas gift idea!

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If you are stuck for a Christmas present how about a voucher for a studio portrait...and you don't have to go out in the snow to get it.
Go to our portrait site http://www.steventaylorportraits.co.uk/ Click client proofing, type voucher into the password request and the rest is easy.

Christmas Portraits

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We know we don't really need to remind you but we can do portraits for Christmas...but you are going to have to hurry. We need to be ready to view your portraits by Monday 13th December to have them in time for Christmas. Have a look at our portrait site. http://www.steventaylorportraits.co.uk Go on hurry up then!

Are you thinking about asking us to photograph your wedding?

2010-11-29T03:57:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of year again. We are not busy shooting weddings, only one more to do before the full on season begins again in February but we are extremely busy answering enquires, meeting couples and booking weddings, we’re doing quite a few family portraits for Christmas as well.

Our diary is looking very busy; we have 22 weddings booked for 2011 and 3 for 2012, including the one in Australia. We had one enquiry today for a date we booked on Thursday last week. So, as a good friend of mine used to say, “if you’re not fast, you’re last” (please read that in a Cumbrian accent). What we are saying is if you haven’t sent your enquiry or you are still talking about your budget and whether it is better to have fantastic, lasting memories or chair covers, you will need to start making some decisions because the popular dates (and they’re not all Saturdays) are getting booked.

Louisa and Terry, 6th November

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For our penultimate wedding of 2010 we went to London. Louisa and Terry got married at St Etheldreda’s in Holborn, it’s the oldest Church in England, Steven has worked there before. It is tempting to say it was when it was a new build but even he hasn’t been a wedding photographer that long. As well as being very old the Church is very beautiful. The light, although not of great quantity has a special quality being transmitted by the stunning stain glass that take up the majority of three of its’ interior walls. It’s well documented how much we love working in black and white but with colour like this we would not be doing our job properly if we didn’t make full use of it.

Steven rode shotgun in the white London cab with Terry and Louisa, while Josh joined the guests on a Routemaster bus across the city. A short stop off at Tower Bridge left enough time for the guests to arrive at Millbank Tower ahead of the couple.

At the very top of the tower is Altitude 360, a venue in the sky with stunning views over London. The filtered lighting at the venue and constant burst of fireworks out of the window, being the day after Guy Fawkes Day, added to the strong sense of colour that themed the day. We have to show you just 45˚ of the 360˚.

We are looking forward to seeing Louisa and Terry again soon when they make the trip to the Lakes to design their album.

We’ve used this song before but it’s another version and just feels right.

Melissa and Tom, 30th October

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We haven’t been to Crossthwiate Parish Church in Keswick since Lucy and David’s wedding back in the days when we shot on film, before Josh went off to uni.

All right it rained a bit, actually it rained a lot but it was the very end of October and it was in the Lake District. When the rain stopped and the sun shone the autumn colours glowed (see what we’ve done with the choice of slideshow music).

We began and ended the day at Melissa’s beautiful family home, nestled on the shore of Derwent Water and in the shadow of Skidaw. Melissa is a milliner and several of her creations were on show on the day.

The speeches were held in the house and then Tom rowed Melissa out on the lake for a firework display. The dinghy that was used to launch the display caught fire, which was probably not meant to happen but it did make for a spectacular photograph and finale to the display.

Dinner was served in the marquee that was supplied by Andrew and Sarah Baker of Baker Wood Marquees and Events. They also catered.

It was a fabulous day and we got some great pictures. Thank you Tom and Melissa for asking us to be your photographers.

Autumnal slideshow here.

Rowena and Billy, 23rd October

2010-10-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

We are cooking on gas now, not just catching up but getting ahead of ourselves. We’ll soon be blogging about weddings before we’ve photographed them.

Last Saturday we drove down to Hoghton Tower near Preston, the ancestral home of the de Hoghton family. We learnt loads about the history of the third most haunted house in England. We knew the story of James 1st knighting the loin of beef, “Sir Loin”. What we didn’t know was that it took place at Hoghton Tower and on Rowena and Billy’s top table at that.

I know we always say it but Rowena and Billy are a great couple, we only photograph great couples, it’s true. The weather wasn’t great but our luck held out again. Just as they were coming out from the ceremony the sun broke through. The house and grounds reminded us of a Tim Burton film, “Alice in Wonderland”, in particular. There is at least one image in the slideshow that is heavily influenced by Mr Burton.

We were booked to work up to when the evening guests arrived but we were having so much fun we decided to stay until the first dance. We all had a hoot making pictures with floodlights in the courtyard.

Here are some highlights.

Beth and Chris, 16th October

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Another lovely couple, we would have liked Chris and Beth even if they hadn’t sent us chocolates.

We are international photographers (Italy next June and Australia in 2012 plus a couple of other ongoing conversations) but we are local too. Last Saturday we walked to work. Beth and Chris got married at The Old England Hotel.
Our viewing room window overlooks the Old England car park. We were finishing jobs in the studio right up to 5 minutes before we were supposed to meet Beth. We said, wouldn’t it be awful if we were late, we weren’t.

As we arrived in Beth’s room we were joined by Kevin from Brackens with a gorgeous array of flowers and our friend Gareth from Aqua was already at work on a (what is the collective noun for Bridesmaids? Put answers in the comments section) “bevy?” of beautiful Bridesmaids. Josh went off to meet Chris and the boys at “The Hole In t’ Wall”. Josh, ever the professional, refused all offers of alcoholic refreshment.

We like Macdonald Hotels because they nearly always include a proper toastmaster in their wedding packages. It’s not a huge addition to the wedding budget but a good MC can make a massive difference to the smooth running of the day. Arthur Casson gave fantastic value for money because as well as being a great MC he is an accomplished entertainer and played the piano through the wedding breakfast. Just as long as he doesn’t start taking pictures as well.

We were working to first dance and we are glad we stayed to hear the special treat from Beth’s Uncle John who sang their first dance.

This is not Uncle John but it is his inspiration.

P.S Sorry if Uncle John has already read this! Steve seems to think he might have been calling you Bill all night!

We love the thanks we get....

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So, yesterday, we were busy processing the pictures we did for Beth and Chris last Saturday (we’ll put them on here in a couple of days) when the postman came. He brought a bill from the framers, we’d already paid that so that was all right, and a card and a lovely little parcel of choccies. Both were from Beth and Chris. We knew you were great people when we first met you but you really didn’t have to do that; we would have photographed your wedding for the money alone. Readers of this blog will know how we love things chocolaty and biscuity. Thanks you two we’ll save them until you come to design your album with us. Oh, by the way your piccies are looking fantastic!

Helen and Keith, 9th October

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We are beginning to catch up now.

It was the first wedding ceremony ever at the Art Deco styled, Haweswater Hotel.

We hadn’t met Helen and Keith, although they sent us a picture of themselves so that we would recognize them on the day.

Helen’s artistic leaning was in evidence throughout the hotel and they had personalized the space with framed pictures of their guests, often taken on their own wedding days, and a set of screen-printed posters reminding us of why we were there.

After the ceremony Helen and Keith drove their Beetle to a footpath that led down to the lake edge. It’s always interesting walking these paths in leather soled shoes and wedding attire but Helen had thought ahead and treated herself to a pair of bridal wellingtons, apparently known as “weddingtons”. Not content with merely having a photograph made by the Lake Helen quickly paddled in. Keith, not being one to be left behind removed his brogues and socks and got in with her. We didn’t test the temperature but it didn’t look warm to us.

There was low cloud hanging over the Lake all day and at times the sun would just burst through giving a dramatic and atmospheric light. As the sun dropped and the clouds parted the speeches were bathed in a light that, as photographers, we can only describe as magical.

We know that Keith is a rock fan so the music is designed to suit all tastes.

Katie and Carolyn, 6th October

2010-10-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Apologies for being a bit late with these posts, I know there are hundreds waiting with bated breath for our latest offering.

So, it was a Wednesday in the Lake District in early October and guess what? It was bucketing it down. We arranged to join the party at The Terrace. Even though we are in Bowness and we have been in the Lakes for the last 22 years we didn’t know about this hidden gem at the top of Windermere Village. Have a look at their site; if we didn’t already live here we’d stay there. Carolyn was ready when we got there; Katie was taking just a little longer. Katie and Carolyn are not from these parts and their families were voicing concerns about the weather, it was a deluge. We reassured them that if you don’t like the weather, in the Lakes, you wait twenty minutes and anyway, we had put in an order to Kodak for sunshine. Sure enough by the time we were ready to leave for the Punchbowl the paths were dry and the sun was putting in an appearance. We don’t guarantee sunshine but we are beginning to believe that it is something to do with us.

Katie and Carolyn traveled to the Punchbowl in a 1935 Rover 14 while the guests got on Florence, a 1948 AEC Regal bus both were supplied by Cumbria Classic Coaches
After the Civil partnership ceremony it was all aboard again for a trip to Ambleside where a meal was served at the Waterhead Hotel. We left when the guests sat down to their meal but it was looking like there was a lot more fun to come.

Here are the highlights.

Lenore and Andy, 2nd October

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If you’ve been following our blog a while you will remember we met Lenore and Andy for a pre wedding shoot in Highbury in March of this year. Well the time came round for their wedding in the Lake District. We drove the short distance up the road to the fabulous Miller Howe. When you work in relative isolation, there’s only us two here on a daily basis, it’s always good to see a familiar face. We were welcomed by Nigel, Manager of the Miller Howe, who after getting us coffee directed us down to the cottage where Gareth from Aqua was doing Lenore’s hair.

Lenore is from the US and her childhood friend Autum and sister Marina had just discovered the delights of the Chocolate Hob Nob. Being English we just can’t imagine life without them and we think there maybe a few consignments finding their way over the Atlantic in the coming months.

The hotel was pretty much at capacity for the ceremony in the conservatory but we managed to get a good position from the door for the exchange of rings. Normally we would shoot from different angles but due to the lack of space Josh was shooting on long lens on my shoulder while I went wide. We still got some good variation even though we were virtually on top of each other.

When it came to making the formal group pictures Lenore and Andy had asked for a shot of everybody and one of all the ladies and one of all the men. So, we shot the big one then asked all the men to walk across to the other side of the steps I was on. One of the ladies, then turn and one of the men. Then, for a minute or two, the strangest phenomenon occurred as we had separated the whole wedding by sex. It was like a school dance as though the lads had to pluck up the courage to speak to the girls. It made for a few giggles from us all.

We are meeting Lenore and Andy when we are in London for Louisa and Terry’s wedding next month.

Here are the highlights

Naomi and Zoë, 24th September

2010-10-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

We went to Broad Leys, the home of Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club, on Friday 24th September. It was the celebration of the Civil Partnership of Zoë and Naomi. In the morning, the weather looked wild. There had been fierce storms the night before and there was a flurry of white horses skipping across the surface of the Lake. We were scheduled to take a boat trip during the afternoon so we thought we might be in for a bumpy ride. By the time the ceremony was over though the sun was shinning. Although it was still quite windy the lake was beginning to calm. We are starting to believe our own myths about ordering sunshine from Kodak…we have been very lucky with the weather this year.

Cake is a strong tradition at UK weddings and, in recent years cup cakes have become an updated alternative but these cup cakes were special. Naomi and Zoë commissioned a cake for each of their guests. They had one each with their initials in the shape of a scrabble tile and the rest each had a theme that meant something to the couple. It was fun guessing each cakes meaning. The eating of the cup cake became an intriguing ritual in it’s own right, maybe it will become a tradition.

Then came the boat trip and quiz about the lives of our couple. Dinner was followed by another break in tradition. There was no first dance, instead Zoë and Naomi treated all to a first song. Not a Karaoke as such but a live band supporting a “Rockioke”, I think that’s the way to spell it. So. Guess what Zoë and Naomi sang.

Here’s a big clue.

Little Angels...

2010-10-02T04:17:00.000-07:00

Little Angels...

Well, mostly. We normally only talk about our wedding photography on here. We started a portrait blog but it proved too much work to administer two blogs so we dropped it. But we don’t just do weddings so we thought we would tell you about what else we’ve been up to lately.

Over the last 3 months we’ve met and photographed over 30 babies. As they were all between 4 and 6 months they were still little angels. We are offering 3 sittings in the baby’s first year, usually at 4 months, 8 months and a year old. After the final sitting we are giving the parents a triple folio with an image from each sitting. Carrying on the tradition from our Kendal studio, we do them all in black and white of course. The idea is to make a little record of the baby’s progress in the first year. The best bit is that we are only charging £30 to do it. It’s a great little project and has met with a huge take up. Everyone who has brought their new little person to be photographed has loved the pictures so much they have wanted to buy some more. That was obviously what we were hoping for so we devised some great packages and set of products that fits every budget.

It’s not easy photographing babies. They wriggle, they eat our fabrics, they cry and some little boys can wee vast distances but it is great fun. We also invite parents and siblings to join the baby for a portrait, although the folio picture will always be of the baby alone.

The project is on going and we do write to parents in the LA postcode area that have opted in to receive offers relating to new baby products. If you, or anyone you know would like to be a part of the project please call us on 015394 454 83. We will register you and your baby for the project and make a date to meet your little angel. If you ring us please have your card details handy so that we can process the £30 fee.

We have more portrait pictures on here.

www.steventaylorportraits.co.uk

Sophie and Norbert, 8th September

2010-09-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

It was the 4th or 5th time this year we were back at the Langdale Chase and we were lucky with the weather yet again.

With only 8 or 10 of their closest family present Sophie and Norbert’s wedding was another of those small family affairs. Sophie’s family traveled from Dorset to be with them on their beautiful Lake District day. We really liked the entrance to the ceremony. The ceremony took place in the small dinning room and the guests waited at the bottom of the stairs while Sophie and her dad walked across the balcony and down the staircase to Norbert who met them at the bottom. Then the whole party made their way into the ceremony room.

Following the ceremony and afternoon tea we were treated to a trip on “Princess of the Lake” a traditional launch from Windermere Lake Cruises. They even stopped off at Ambleside to stock up with Champagne glasses that someone (no names) forgot to bring down from the Hotel.

Sophie and Norbert went on to have a “Mini-moon” at the Holbeck Ghyll where we were working the following week. We where hoping to bump into them but we will have to wait until they come to design their album this Friday.

For the slideshow click here

Holbeck Ghyll

2010-09-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

We have been doing a lot of work lately with the Holbeck Ghyll Hotel

In the last 10 or 15 years Steven has photographed a couple of weddings at the Holbeck Ghyll but the last owners didn’t push for wedding business. Recently the Michelin Star hotel changed hands and the new owners appointed Andrew McPherson as manager. Andrew is keen to attract weddings to the Holbeck Ghyll. He understands the wedding business very well, he did Madonna’s wedding you know, and with a marquee in the grounds will be able to accommodate 200 or 300 guests so we reckon it could become a significant Lake District wedding venue.

Andrew and his assistant manager James Conway asked to meet us and commissioned us to make some photography for them. We did some hotel interiors and some images that made the most of the fantastic view across the Lake to the Langdales but they needed some wedding pictures. It’s been a while since we shot a wedding there and fashions have changed so we all decided the best way was to mock one up. We hired a Bride and Groom and went and had a word with the best of the South Lakes wedding suppliers. Julia Tasker brought a selection of gowns. Greenwoods of Kendal lent us the Grooms outfit. Kevin from Brackens of Bowness turned up with a selection of flowers and Lea of Beaulea’s Cake Studio brought a gorgeous looking cake. Hair and make up was looked after by Gareth and Jackie from Aqua Hair and Beauty

Our models, Laura and Chris got into the role and it was just like a real wedding at times. At one point we had Julia acting the part of registrar while our friends and hotel staff played the guests with whoops, cheers and applause when Julia pronounced them man and wife. We should point out to Laura and Chris’s real partners that nothing was signed and they left in separate cars.

It was an enjoyable day and although we often nod in passing and sometimes make some small talk with all of the others it was lovely to spend the day with them and get to know each other a bit better.

Not really a wedding but some nice piccies here

Louisa and Duncan, 4th September

2010-09-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven’t been blogging lately. Steve had some family business to take care of down South so I’ve been holding the fort on my own.

We had been looking forward to Louisa and Duncan’s wedding for a while.

We started at Troutbeck Church and worked up to when they sat down for their meal at the Cragwood. So, not as long coverage as normal, that was the way they wanted it.

We’ve already put a picture on here, while we were processing them, because we thought it was stunning. Louisa’s style was, in Steven’s words, “very Isadora Duncan” and Duncan’s three-piece suit was perfectly in period, set off by his pocket watch and chain, very stylish. So when we found “that light”, down by the Lake, we just had to make the image we did. Also Louisa and Duncan are very photogenic. We don’t think they knew that but now perhaps they will. We love this picture and have already designed advertising with it. So you two will be famous.

Click here for the slideshow of the highlights.

So we don't normally do this but.....

2010-09-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Like I said we really don't normally do this, but while I was processing Duncan and Louisa's wedding I found an image that I absolutely love, Steve and I are both thrilled with how this came out. Duncan and Louisa are incredibly photogenic and the good news is we have some more lovely images coming their way! So to Duncan and Louisa congratulations again and we hope you enjoy this very sneaky peaky!

Josh

Ola and Alex, 28th August

2010-09-05T09:58:00.001-07:00

We went to London last Saturday for the wedding of Ola and Alex. It was another mix of cultures. Ola is from Poland her name is the shortened version of Aleksandra in Polish so, in English, both of them could be known as Alex, which would have confused us too much. Alex, that’s Alexander, is half Greek and half Polish but has lived in North London all of his life. We had a great day and learned loads about both cultures and their wedding traditions.

Another photographer joined us on this occasion. Andy Perkins is an old friend of Steve’s. They worked together in the early eighties, back in the day when they would cover 6 weddings on one Saturday. In the last couple of decades Andy has made a name for himself as a Travel and Corporate photographer, he has published 30 odd books of his travel work. As he now has a young family he is keen to stay at home a bit more so is looking to re establish himself in wedding and lifestyle work. We bumped into Andy again in March of this year at Focus on Imaging at the NEC. He told us about his plans and asked if he could tag along sometime when we were in London, just to remind him of how wedding photography was. The result was a third viewpoint, it worked well and, yes Andy, several of your images have made the final cut. Look out in the slideshow, during the confetti throwing and you can get a rare glimpse of the Steven Taylor Photography team in action, thanks Andy.

Ola and Alex went from the traditional first slow dance into an even more traditional Greek dance and pinning of money by their parents, friends and family. We loved that, it made for great photographs. We also had the pleasure, and I think not over the top to say honour, of welcoming Ola and Alex to our Lake District studio on Friday when we designed a fabulous album together.

Click here for the highlights.

Nikki simple star

2010-08-31T04:08:00.000-07:00

Hello folks,

A little of topic I know but we thought you fine people could help! Nikki is a model from Carlisle who helped us some time back when we were reshooting our portrait portfolio. She is in need of some votes to become the face of simple to promote their new range, we can't think of anyone more deserving so why not take 30 secs and vote for her!

You can do so here

If you can get others to do the same I know Nikki would be really appreciative so post it on your facebook or pop it on twitter! The link you need is http://www.simple.co.uk/simple-stars/x-nikki-x.aspx

Thanks for all your help from Nikki and both Steve and I.

Josh

David and James 21st August

2010-08-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

David and James, 21st August

Last Saturday we photographed our first male Civil Partnership and we are so glad it was David and James’ wedding.

David is English but has lived in the States for the last 10 years, he met James 8 years ago and they now live in Kentucky. David is a photographer himself and there were at least two others, at the wedding, who had connections to our profession, so it is very flattering that David and James liked our work enough to trust us to record their day.

And what a day it was… we had a great time and it was clear that everybody else did too. James and David’s choice of music through the day lived up to stereotype, they made their entrance to “Don’t Rain on my Parade” from the cast of Glee, lyric cards were handed out as we listened to “Love Never Dies” and the ceremony was concluded by a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. James’ daughter, Sonia, is an actress in LA and gave, what to our ears was, a perfect reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnet number 29. Throughout the day Kleenex was kept in business, David probably got through a rainforest or two on his own.

The day was hosted by Nick at Winder Hall in Lorton. The house and gardens are beautiful and Nick and his staff are great, they all entered into the spirit of the day.

David had a list of formal pictures that we got through at super pace with the help of David’s friend and former assistant, Louise, while James’ only request was that we made him look gorgeous, we think we did alright…

The Slideshow is here...

Charlotte and Luke, 14th August

2010-08-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

We could have booked 14th August this year 9 or 10 times, it was a popular date. Charlotte and Luke got in early though. We first met them back in May 2009, we liked them straight away. Finally, the day came around for Luke and Charlotte’s wedding in Carlisle.

Our day, and Charlotte’s started at the hairdressers. Charlotte had booked out the whole of the Lockstock Salon for the morning. Charlotte, Mum and all 6 of the bridesmaids had their hair, make-up and I guess a little bit of pampering taken care of. We could have both done with a trim but settled for a cup of coffee.

Charlotte and Luke had thought of everything. Luke and his Ushers arrived in the “A” Team van, a surprise from Charlotte and Charlotte and her Dad arrived in more traditional style, a carriage and pair, a surprise from Luke.

We had the pleasure of meeting and working with Steve Slattery and his team from Cedar productions. They are a very slick video production company and Steve slaved through the wedding breakfast to make a highlight edit of their work to that point. It was projected for the guests to have a look during that “wind down” slot between the speeches and the first dance. You can view it on Cedar production’s blog here. We have a couple of very brief cameo appearances.

The reception was held at the historic Dalston Hall. It’s been a while since we have been there and we had forgotten how special it is.

We know that Charlotte and Luke are in Mauritius at the moment… so have a couple of looks at the slideshow and then get back on the beach you two.

Slideshow here...

Joanna and Ian, 7th August

2010-08-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Joanna and Ian first came to Ford Cottage way back in May 2008 to book their wedding photography. How quickly that time has gone. The wedding was at Storrs Hall. The hotel was at capacity with Ian and Joanna’s guests lining the landing as well as seating back to the door for the ceremony.

After the speeches the couple and their guests left on a lake cruise aboard “Miss Lakeland”.

Click here for the slideshow...

Nikki and Jimmy 5th August

2010-08-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

Another fantastic couple with a lovely family. Nikki and Jimmy live on the Wirral but chose to hold their wedding at the Castle Green Hotel in Kendal. The day began grey, wet and miserable. We arranged to meet the couple at 1.30 and with each hour that passed a little more blue sky appeared. Nikki really wanted the wedding outside, under the gazebo, but the registrars are not keen on soggy registers and running ink so there was no guarantee that was going to happen. At 3.30, right on cue the sun shone through and Nikki and Jimmy got their al fresco wedding.

Jimmy’s brother, Ryan, carried out the official duties of the Best man but Nikki and Jimmy’s toddler, who we knew as “J J”, stole the glory.

We left after the speeches but we did get to hear the voice and acoustic guitar of JH-band who sang to the guests while they enjoyed their meal.

Click here for a slideshow..

Kodak Wedding Photographer of the Year Finalist

2010-08-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

Keely and Will, the couple whose image was selected for the finals of the Kodak Wedding Photographer of the Year Award, came to see us last Sunday. There were two reasons why they made the trip from Manchester. We presented them with the Kodak digital camera that was their prize for reaching the finals and they brought their finished album.

We don’t see the finished albums these days because they are delivered direct to the customer so it is always exciting when a couple bring the finished article to show us. Will and Keely are delighted with their album and, even though we say so ourselves, it is very beautiful. They have had lots of compliments from their friends and family. Keely told us that the most usual response has been “it really tells the story of the day”. That is our purpose. Of course some portraits and group pictures are important but for us wedding photography is story telling. We are concerned with telling a sympathetic but truthful story of the wedding day. The only way to do that successfully is to observe and not interfere but to look for images that have strong composition, interesting light, moving expressions and that work together to form a powerful narrative. Which is exactly what the picture that got us into the finals of the Kodak Wedding Photographer of the Year awards was all about.

We like to think that even if you were not at the wedding you will be able to understand each event in the album or slideshow without need for explanation.

The MPA, who organize the Kodak awards asked for a picture of the presentation for their magazine and they have sent out the following Press Release:

South Lakes photographer reaches final

Bowness based photographer, Steven Taylor, has been named as one of only five finalists in a prestigious national photography awards.

The 2010 Kodak Wedding Awards are run by The Master Photographers Association (MPA) and Kodak Professional. The awards attracted entries from the cream of Britain’s professional photographers, so to reach the final is a huge accolade for Steven, whose image now goes forward to the final judging in September.

One purpose of the Awards is to raise money for the PACE Centre in Aylesbury, PACE is the MPA’s chosen charity and does invaluable work with children with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. Each entry carried a £1 charge, with all the fees being donated to PACE.

Keely and Will Lewis of Manchester, whose wedding was the subject of Steven’s stunning image, have won a Kodak digital camera and will be hoping their picture can go all the way. They stand to win a cool £1,000 if the image is named the overall winner at the glittering Master Photography Awards ceremony, which is held in Birmingham in October. Keely and Will’s wedding was at the Low Wood Hotel in February of this year.

Says Colin Buck, MPA chief executive, “Steven has done extremely well to reach this stage of such a high profile Award. The competition was very tough and to reach the final is a real honour. I’m sure Steven will be looking forward to October to see if he is crowned the overall winner.”

Paula and Steve, 29th July

2010-08-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

Compared to the rest of the year July was quiet for us, we don’t know why but we only had two weddings where other months we had or have 5,6 or 7 to photograph. July ended with the wedding of Paula and Steve.

The Langdale Chase has become one of the Lake District’s most popular wedding venues. We were back there again on Thursday 29th. This time it was the wedding of Paula and Steve who live in St Helens. Paula, who’s Mum told us is usually more comfortable in jeans looked stunning. It was another intimate family and a few friends occasion. We have heard that some photographers who work in a similar style to us struggle to find images at smaller weddings, clearly we don’t.

It was our third wedding at the Langdale Chase this year and we are already looking forward to 8th September when we are back there again for Sophie and Norbert.

Click here to see their highlights..

Broadband!

2010-08-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

BT have finally fixed our broadband so lots of new posts coming tomorrow! Watch this space!

Josh